During all of the week long sesquicentennial activity, a mystery emerged. As I was preparing for the time capsule dedication, a member of the steering committee, Carol Tressler, asked me how the project was progressing, and made a comment concerning the time capsule that was sealed by the 1959 Centennial Committee.

"What?" I uttered in shock.

"Apparently, they buried a time capsule somewhere in town, but no one, not even Russell Wilhoit, knows where it ended up," Carol explained.

Admittedly, as I assembled my Sesquicentennial Time Capsule Committee during the winter months, I wondered why there had not been a time capsule dedication during the centennial celebration. After all, the 1959 festival seemed to be the standard by which local celebrations were measured for years, and at that time, time capsules were a popular method of preserving cultural items of interest for future generations. I couldn’t imagine such an oversight by the committee 50 years ago.

Regardless, as the celebration continued, with phone calls and items for the time capsule coming into City Hall, right up until the cylinder was sealed that Saturday, the mystery surrounding the 1959 time capsule intensified. By weeks end, it became apparent a time capsule had been buried during the centennial celebration, and I became a focal point for ideas regarding its whereabouts.

I made a couple of phone calls to the only surviving member of the Centennial Steering Committee, Morgan Miers, but was unable to catch him at home. Undeterred, I met with Morgan’s high school classmate, Bill Hunter, to see if he remembered a time capsule, but he didn’t recall any discussions or ceremonies regarding the mysterious cultural time vessel, back in 1959. Since he had been working at our family’s drug store on the square, at the very time the capsule was theoretically buried in the courthouse lawn, I began to doubt whether these time capsule stories were true.

Later the same day, I received an email from Greensburg founder, Thomas Hendricks’ great, great, great grandson, Phil Goddard, who remembered a time capsule ceremony in 1959. He confirmed this with a high school classmate, Albert Oak, who now resides in Wisconsin, for corroboration. The time capsule was to be buried in the courthouse yard. Phil remembers a ceremony taking place, and the announcement of items that were to be placed in the time capsule, but he did not witness the actual burial. The ceremony took place across from what is now Storie’s Restaurant, on the other side of Main Street, slightly to the east. At the time, Phil was working at the Leader Shoe Store next to our drug store on Broadway, and he watched the ceremony from the front of the store. He couldn’t see in detail what was taking place, but he remembered from the announcement what was supposed to take place, and he further recalled the time capsule was to be opened during the Greensburg bicentennial celebration.

I suppose that gives us 50 more years to find the time capsule, if it still exists, but I would recommend we pursue this Holy Grail of Greensburg treasure now. If anyone was present at the 1959 ceremony, or has knowledge of what was to be placed in the time capsule, please contact myself, or a steering committee member, through the City Hall, at 663-3344.

During the sesquicentennial celebration, many of us took time to reflect on all of the changes that have occurred in Greensburg during the last 50 years, and our beloved symbol, the Tree on the Courthouse Tower, is among the changes. If you recall, when the courthouse was remodeled, the entire lawn was in various degrees of disarray. Could the mysterious 1959 time capsule have been with the rubble that was carted off during the construction, its secret contents, perhaps, forever silenced? Perish the thought!

All great communities have legends and myths, and now Greensburg may be included in conversations about Loch Ness in Scotland, Sleepy Hollow in New York, and (Dare I say it?) Area 51 in Nevada. Yes, the whereabouts of the mysterious 1959 time capsule may never be known, but we may now embrace this mystery as a legend that is ours, alone.

Perhaps the super secret time capsule committee of 1959 engineered a timed lock, allowing it to spring from the ground, sometime in June, 2059. Perhaps not, but regardless, the sesquicentennial time capsule will be for all to see, in City Hall. Congratulations to the Greensburg 150th Steering Committee, on a job well done, and allowing a week of historical contemplation on the many things that have helped make Greensburg the community we all enjoy today.